| Hayes: Nature clues us in on landscaping season
Even though Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Groundhog's Day predicting more winter, the last few days suggest the coming of spring.The excited activity of the birds, the budding of trees, and the lengthening of the days suggest we have made it through the depths of winter. I have even begun hearing the sound of frogs in the evening.It seems that nature, through its subtle process of warming and awakening, encourages us to get ready by feeling a need to prune the roses, plant the seeds (indoors), and remove winter damage.Mind you, I say "feeling a need," and kudos to those of you who have actually put their feelings into action.Such is the case with the Kings Valley Community Center landscape and beautification plan, which is no longer just a plan but a developing reality.Last week, holes were dug by the Kings Valley Charter School students, compost and plants were delivered and a dying maple was wrestled out of the ground to be replaced by a healthy young sapling.During the garage sale last Saturday, a small contingent of green-thumbers kept as clean as they could as they filled holes, dug new holes and planted a variety of shrubbery and trees that will soon bring forth color, shade, and delight to a community for generations to come.Throughout the day, Carol Shifley, Kings Valley Area Association president, took photographs to capture it all for posterity.The coordinator for this landscaping project, Betty Malone, noted that another planting day will be held in a couple weeks to plant the sweet gum, so favored by Virginia Price, whose memorial garden will commemorate Virginia's love for plants and her community.The parking area across the street awaits a bit more drying before the gravel can be effectively spread.Special thanks to all who have invested time, money and sweat to make this a reality.While it might look like a muddy mess at this point of time, it is easy to see the plan on paper becoming a reality.Stay tuned for details on an upcoming dedication ceremony planned sometime in spring.Community gatheringIf you are curious to see how things are developing at the Kings Valley Community Center, plan on coming out on March 8.There will be a Kings Valley community potluck that day at the community center starting at 6 p.m.
Sweat the BIG stuff
Know how different insurance companies compare for promptness of payment and successful claim payment. To see how insurance companies compare, go to the March 2006 issue of Consumer Reports for auto insurance and the summer/fall 2006 issue of Twin Cities Consumers' Checkbook for homeowner's (see below for contact info). Appliances If a broken washing machine or oven puts you in a panic, the answer isn't to buy extended warranties or repair plans offered by pushy retail salespeople or utilities, it's to buy a reliable appliance in the first place. Rather than buying an appliance based on appearance or features, check its reliability with Consumer Reports. Appliances rarely fail in the first three years (the typical extended warranty period). If you really want an extended warranty, read it for exclusions before you buy.
Parkview expanding remote care
A program to remotely monitor critical-care patients in five Parkview Health hospitals has been expanded to give doctors more time to spend at the bedside, officials said Monday. More than a year ago, Parkview contracted with St. Louis-based Advanced ICU, which connects critical-care physicians to hospital ICU patients using telemedicine technology. Parkview previously used both Advanced ICU Care's clinicians and its own critical-care physicians and nurses to monitor patients remotely. The health system is now using Advanced ICU's complete eICU program for that purpose. This provides round-the-clock remote monitoring by board-certified critical care physicians and nurses, among other services. Ford recalling 180,000 SUVs Ford Motor Co.
Advocates organize to thwart US immigration agents
One assumes they have something to hide," ICE spokeswoman Pat Reilly said.
"They're threatening us that they're going to hamper our ability to enforce the law," she said of the neighborhood watches in particular. "You know, one has to be careful not to aid, abet or harbor people who are illegally in this country, because that's a violation of immigration law. That can be criminal."
The immigration agency's 75 fugitive operations teams --the ones assigned to visit residences--arrested 30,408 illegal immigrants in the fiscal year ending last September, a figure expected to grow with 28 additional teams this year, officials said.
60% caught are fugitives
Almost 40 percent of those arrests were collateral, and the remainder were deportation-fleeing, or fugitive, immigrants, including criminals, Reilly said.
Researchers offer new theory for dogfish and skate population outburst ...
The article, 'New hypothesis helps explain elasmobranch 'outburst' on George's Bank in the 1980's' appears in the January 2008 edition of Ecological Applications. The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is the principal research institution for advanced environmental research and graduate studies within the University System of Maryland. UMCES researchers are helping improve our scientific understanding of Maryland, the region and the world through its three laboratories, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, and Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, as well as the Maryland Sea Grant College. .
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